Parents urged to help shape future of school buses

Parents and carers are being asked to share their views on the future of school bus services.

At present, support for school buses varies across West Yorkshire's five local authorities.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) is running a public consultation until 11 June, with any changes set to come into force from September 2026.

Mayor Tracy Brabin urged parents, schools and students to take part in a bid to develop a "new region-wide travel-to-school strategy that best serves West Yorkshire".

The WYCA has arrangements in place for about 328 buses which carry on average up to 20,000 pupils per day.

This includes 28 services that carry about 1,000 children to primary schools, the majority of which were introduced under the government-backed Mybus scheme.

These costs typically increase year on year, having risen from £15.96m in 2022/23 to £16.50m in 2023/24 and £18.99m in 2024/25.

In February, two school bus services which faced being scrapped as part of Bradford Council's efforts to cut costs were given funding to keep them running well into 2026.

Bradford Council had proposed ending the routes to Bingley Grammar School and St Bede's and St Joseph's Catholic College in September in a bid to save about £500,000 a year.

But following criticism from parents, the council and the WYCA confirmed they would continue to fund the services until "at least the summer of 2026".

School bus services in West Yorkshire were last reviewed by the WYCA Transport Committee in July 2019.

Since then, the WYCA said there had been "significant change", including the impact of Covid-19 on the bus network and the decision taken in March 2024 by Brabin to implement bus franchising across the region.

The programme for the implementation of bus franchising will see the first bus services through this new operating model start at the end of March 2027.

This will include school bus services, and the contracts for delivery of the first phase of services will be issued for operators to bid against in October 2025.

Transport Committee chair Susan Hinchcliffe said: "The region's school bus policy is currently a mix of various agreements with different council areas – the result has been that parts of our region have differing levels of support from the Combined Authority.

"That is why it is important to create a new school bus strategy for the whole of West Yorkshire, which will help us with our plans to create a better-connected region."

Brabin said: "It is vital for us to make sure our children and young people have safe, secure and prompt routes to and from school.

"That is why I am urging as many parents, students and schools as possible to get in touch and take part in the consultation when it starts at the end of April – so we can create a new, region-wide travel to school strategy that best serves West Yorkshire."

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